Swedish minister, daughter of Haifa Palestinian, wears Star of David at election debate
Liberal Party leader Simona Mohamsson says she chose to wear Jewish symbol on behalf of Jewish children who cannot, amid surge in Swedish antisemitism; she’s subject to torrent of online hate afterwards
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Sweden’s center-right Liberal Party leader, Minister of Education and Integration Simona Mohamsson, wore a Star of David during a televised debate earlier this week, saying she wanted to highlight the rising antisemitism in the country.
Speaking at a Monday night event ahead of Sweden’s national elections in September, Mohamsson explained her choice of Jewish symbol, saying “I wear the Star of David for the children who do not dare to in today’s Sweden,” according to a translation of her remarks into English in New York’s The Sun newspaper.
Mohamsson comes from a Shia Muslim background. Her father is Palestinian, born in Haifa, and her mother is Lebanese, although she herself does not identify as Muslim.
She also harshly criticized the socialist Left Party in Sweden for supporting jailed Palestinians who killed Israelis in terrorist attacks, accusing them of “sending love letters to Hamas and spreading fear on our streets.”
She was referring to a letter sent by lawmaker Ilona Szatmari Waldau to Ahmad al-Moghrabi, a senior commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, who is serving multiple life sentences for plotting terrorist attacks.
Szatmari Waldau later apologized in a post on her Facebook page, saying the campaign was in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and should have excluded anyone convicted of violence.
Following her televised appearance with the Star of David, Mohamsson was subject to waves of online hate, being accused of being “self-hating” and threatened with “may she burn,” according to Sweden’s Aftonbladet daily.
Mohamsson and her party have repeatedly warned of rising antisemitism in Sweden, calling out both Islamists and the far-right, noting that it was spreading in Swedish schools.
“Antisemitism is spreading even in our schools. Teachers report difficulties in speaking plainly about the Holocaust and contemporary antisemitism, and that these topics are sometimes relativized or met with silence. This is a development we can never accept,” she said in her role as education minister.
The European Commission published a report earlier this year showing that 73 percent of respondents in Sweden said antisemitism is a problem in the country.
Like many other countries, Sweden saw a sharp rise in antisemitism following the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.